Chapter 6 - The Apex Threat
I stared at the toxicology report, my mind reeling from the magnitude of the betrayal.
My mother had conspired with my husband to destroy me, and then she murdered him to keep all the money for herself.
She was not just a greedy narcissist anymore.
She was a cold-blooded killer.
"I need to take this to the police immediately," I told Vance.
Vance shook his head and gently pushed the paper back down onto my lap.
"The local police chief is the one who buried this report a year ago," Vance warned me.
"Your mother used the offshore money to buy protection from the highest levels of local law enforcement."
I felt completely trapped in a web of corruption that I had unknowingly funded.
The next morning, Daniel arranged for me to be discharged from the clinic.
I moved into a highly secure, luxury penthouse with the twins and a team of armed guards.
I could finally walk short distances using a silver-handled cane.
That evening, the building concierge called to inform me of an unexpected visitor.
Before I could decline, the private elevator doors opened directly into my living room.
My sister Claire stumbled out, looking absolutely terrified.
Her designer clothes were torn, and she had a massive, ugly bruise across her left cheek.
"Mara, please, you have to help me," Claire sobbed, collapsing onto my expensive rug.
I stood up slowly, leaning heavily on my cane, and signaled my guards to stand down.
"You have a lot of nerve showing up here, Claire," I said coldly.
"The men from the loans, they found me," she cried hysterically.
"They said if I do not pay them one million dollars by tomorrow, they are going to kill me."
I felt a flicker of pity, but I quickly smothered it with the memory of her trying to steal my babies.
"That sounds like a personal problem, Claire," I replied.
Claire grabbed my ankle, her tears staining my shoes.
"You do not understand who these people are, Mara," she begged.
"The loan sharks are a shell company called Apex Holdings."
I frowned, recognizing the name from my own corporate intelligence reports.
Apex Holdings was the aggressive conglomerate currently trying to buy out my biggest competitors.
"They are not just coming for me," Claire gasped, looking up with wide, terrified eyes.
"The men who beat me up told me to deliver a message to you."
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Claire reached into her pocket and pulled out a crushed, bloody piece of paper.
"They said the car crash was just a warning, and next time, they will not miss."
